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Remembrance

I woke up this morning and forgot that it was 9/11. once i realized i had forgotten, i felt kind of bad. i thought to myself, i don’t ever want this day to become forgotten or become lessened. i took a moment to say a little prayer for those who lost loved ones on that day and remembered what i’m grateful for (the 2 pictured above, to name just a few things).

Rather than blog about running or eating or even georgia (gasp!), i thought i would spend a few minutes remembering that day:

I woke up at my normal early time, got ready for class (i had decided to to take a break from my career as a social worker and was in law school at the time), and went in the den for my routine bowl of cheerios i ate every morning in front of the tv. i turned on the Today Show just after the first plane hit. Matt Lauer was talking; there was tons of confusion. i called a friend whose brother works in that area of NY and while we were on the phone, the second plane hit. Still confusion.

I went ahead and got my stuff together for class and headed out the door. things just felt a little eerie so i called my dad. i think, by this time, all hell was breaking loose. my dad was on the other line with my sister who was just beginning her freshman year at LMU in Los Angeles. LAX was on lockdown and all students were quarantined in the school. she was in complete panic so dad and i just talked for a minute or so. he told me to get to school and stay there. i then called my mom, who works for the Attorney General. there was also a lot of confusion there. i believe our federal building had gotten bomb threats and downtown was in a bit of panic.

I got to school and it was so strange. nobody was going to class. everyone was in the law school watching the tv’s in the lobby. it was completely silent. some people were crying. some were calling family members. what a strange day. it felt like it lasted forever. i think we stayed in the lobby for hours and were completely glued to the tv. as scary as it was, i remember having such a great feeling of pride. over the next few hours, it seemed, people were flying their American flags. i remember driving home that day and seeing houses with their flags up and it just brought tears to my eyes.

8 months later i happened to be in NY when they were removing the last beam from the fallen towers. it was a huge ceremony- all the police officers, coast guard, firefighters, family members, mayor and so on, walked from the ravished area and through the streets of NY with the beam carried out like a casket belonging to a fallen soldier, with the American flag. this was a really special moment. i was there alone, alongside complete strangers, and everyone was hugging and crying. i went and saw the wall where the names are etched and there were thousands of pictures, letters, stuffed animals; it was a feeling i can’t even put into words.

In some ways it seems like all of that was just yesterday but in other ways, it seems like something i read about in a book.

Do you remember where you were on 9/11? take a second today to think about it and to remember what you’re grateful for today!